Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple

Saturday, August 16, 2014

A Positive Article in The Advocate

The Branch had a Back to School Bash today, organized by the missionaries. Unfortunately it wasn't very well attended, but those who were there had a great time. It was so fun to see the 4 of the enjoying themselves in their shorts and t-shirts and having a fun day. The water balloons seemed to be a big hit, as was the face painting. If I'd moved over about a foot Elder Browning's dinosaur would've taken off Brother Marchand's head!

One of the best things about Branch socials is having time to sit and talk to people. Today I had a wonderful visit with Sister Harris, and one of the things we talked about was Sister Covington's train encounter. This is an experience that Sister C doesn't talk about to anyone, including her 6 children. So what Sister H told me was bits and pieces that she's gathered from what little Sister C says and from others.

This is what I've pieced together so far. There was a local Baton Rouge establishment, a bar, where everyone always wanted a particular seat. One evening Sister C, probably in her 50's at the time, and a male friend were racing to see who could get there first when, while running across the railroad tracks, Sister C tripped and fell. There were a lot of men standing around, but none were willing to take the chance to help her. The friend turned back to assist and plead with the Lord that if he was spared, he'd take care of her. The friend was injured, but Sister C lost her legs as the train came through. They were both hospitalized, then this is where things become unclear.

It was several years after this that Sister C joined the church. She now lives on her own in an apartment in Plaquemine. The friend did care for her in his home for quite a long time, but then the details just don't come together. She has been to the temple to do baptisms for the dead, is endowed and is a stalwart and faithful member of the church. Quite a courageous lady!

A few weeks ago, not too many days after the Hansen's arrived in the Mission, they were interviewed by a reporter from The Advocate, the big LA newspaper. We've been waiting for it, and today it was on the front page of the religion section. I must admit, we were all pleased with the results. Sister H said that the reporter was very positive and interested, so we were hoping the article would be favorable, and we weren't disappointed.

BR Mormon missionaries get new leaders for next three
years

Couple with a mission

BY MARK HUNTER| SPECIAL TO THE ADVOCATE

Aug. 16, 2014

You’ve
seen them riding their bikes or even talked to them after they knocked on your
door, a pair of clean-cut young men wearing white shirts and ties or
modestly-dressed young women who introduce themselves as “elder” or “sister.”

They
are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and more
than 180 of them are canvassing the sprawling Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission
that stretches from Natchitoches to Venice to DeRidder and Covington.

Overseeing
the idealistic young people is Mission President Reed H. Hansen and his wife,
Mary Anne Hansen, of Boise, Idaho. They arrived in late June and will be here
for three years. The parents of six grown children and grandparents of 15, the
Hansens own a successful phone book publishing company that their sons are
running while they are away.

“It’s
beautiful! I think it’s gorgeous here,” said Mary Anne Hansen during a recent
interview. An artist, she is accustomed to Idaho’s dry Western landscape.
Louisiana’s lush forests and swamps are fresh, new scenery that she wants to
paint, she said, quickly adding, if she ever has some leisure time.

But
more than the different landscape, the Hansens said the friendly, Southern
culture is a refreshing experience.

“We’ve
been so impressed by how kind and generous people are and how they take their
religion seriously and are very devoted Christians,” she said. “We don’t see
that much in the West.”

“We’re
just so grateful to the people who are kind to them (missionaries), even if
they don’t invite them in, if they just show kindness to them,” Reed Hanson
added. “Because we think of them as our children.”

The
mission’s office at 12025 Justice Ave. is across town from Baton Rouge’s church
and a separate temple on Highland Road. While the mission is related to the
three local wards (similar to church parishes), it does not oversee them,
explained Reed Hansen. The Mission office is small but well organized with maps
under glass at several office desks and assignment charts posted on the walls.

The
Mission is divided into “zones” or areas of Baton Rouge, Denham Springs,
Lafayette, New Orleans North and N.O. South, and Alexandria. Each area is
subdivided into districts that are coordinated with local elders and sisters.

For
example, the Baton Rouge area is divided into North (most of Baton Rouge
proper), Plaquemine, Gonzales and Spanish Districts. The Mission’s website
describes an ambitious goal of 90 convert baptisms per quarter, and baptisms in
each district each month.

“We’ll
have a young missionary who will be a zone leader and then under him will be
district leaders who get leadership training, and there are trainers who train
the new missionaries who come in,” Reed Hansen explained. “We try to keep them
all on task.”

Exactly
how the teams of young men and women and five married couples canvass their own
district is up to them, he said. They share apartments in their districts as
well as cars and bicycles.

The
Mission’s website lists “comings and goings” of several young people each week
completing their mission and going home or arriving here after two weeks of
intensive training in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A
misconception, the Hansens explained, is that young men are required to go on a
mission. They are not, but most do. They also, men and women, pay their own way
or their family or home ward (church) supports them. Also most of them drive in
cars these days with about 40 percent riding bikes.

The
missionary men, beginning at age 18, are out for two years and the young women,
19 and up, are away from home for 18 months, the Hansens said. They cannot make
phone calls except for Christmas and Mother’s Day, but they can email friends
and family daily.

They
have no choice where to serve and willingly go anywhere across the world. Right
now there are missionaries from Japan, Taiwan, Fiji, Mexico, France, Haiti and
the Congo serving in this district, all speaking their own languages and also
learning English for an hour a day, Reed Hansen said.

Another
misconception, the Hansens said, is that the missionaries are only interested
in converting people to their religion.

“I’d
say at least half their time is doing service,” Reed Hansen said. “A lot of
times they’ll find people who need help in their yards and in their houses and
in their businesses. Community service is a huge part of what we do.”

Helping
people discover their family history by way of an extensive, computer-based
library, is also a motive for service, Mary Anne Hansen added. “Our church,
obviously, is very big on knowing their family roots, and a lot of Southerners
enjoy that, too,” she said.

The
missionaries are out and about most days except for Sundays and Mondays. One
recent Monday found a group of them hanging out in the mission office visiting,
restocking apartment supplies and playing games.

Erick
Araujo, 22, of Houston, has been here for 23 months and is going home before
the end of August. A Spanish speaker with a big smile, he served the West Bank
of New Orleans.

“I
really loved it there. Hispanics are pretty friendly,” Araujo said. “Even if
they don’t want to listen to your message, they’ll still listen to you, and
they’re not gonna just slam the door in your face.”

After
he gets home he plans to find a job and attend college. “I want to become an
architect,” Araujo said.

Ryan
Glauser, 19, of Redlands, California, has been here for eight months and wants
to attend college to become a television sports announcer when he returns home.

Glauser
said he finds it hard when “someone disagrees with what you are saying —
something you’ve found to be true — and they completely disagree with you and
they say ‘you’re wrong.’ And it kinda hurts because you know what’s right and
you want them to know what’s right.”

William
Watkins, 25, from New Jersey, has been in Baton Rouge 18 months and will go
home at Christmas to resume a job in a toy store.

“We
call it ‘mission life,’” Watkins said. “When you come out you are born, when
you go home you die.”

For
more information on the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission, visit thelbrm.com.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to copy any of the other pictures that were in the paper. Hopefully the Elders will know how to do that.